


We Light Up the Dark

by moonlightxprincess13



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Coffee Shops, F/F, Grad School AU, M/M, copious amounts of coffee, im still awful at tagging, maybe? - Freeform, meet cute?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 22:15:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5066452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlightxprincess13/pseuds/moonlightxprincess13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Don’t worry about it, you’re not the only one still here,” he nodded towards the opposite corner of the cafe where the, shit, Danny thought to himself, the man he’d been staring at earlier was burrowing his face into his scarf and shoving his hands in his pockets as he headed towards the door. Danny followed suit, and tried not to trip over his own feet.</p><p> </p><p>Or, when law student Danny and grad student Claude meet at a coffee shop and feelings ensue. </p><p>Sorry I'm bad a summaries</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Light Up the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the Hockey Big Bang 2015, and the artwork was done by the AMAZING ninjaomlet (http://ninjaomelet.tumblr.com). If you can't see it (I am technologically inept and my school's wifi is terrible), the link to the art post is here: https://36.media.tumblr.com/a9d8c624af660d25821733627d4ae02c/tumblr_nwr1ejnGhi1qzb2kso1_540.png. Title is taken from "Weekend" by Priory, and sorry if it's a mess I haven't written in what feels like ages. Beta-ing was done by the always wonderful Derpydrewdoughty(skinner_girl), and my gnome :)

    

 

 

_Sunday_

Danny sighed as he stood up from his desk, legs sore and stiff from underuse. Groaning, he stretched them out, carefully rolling his ankles a few times before putting any weight on them. He looked around to find a window, almost startled to see that the only light were coming from the buildings next door. It was late November, and the sun did set early, but he was still surprised at how late it was. From across the table, Scott raised his head above the nook and tugged out his earphones.

“You leaving already?” His voice was barely a whisper, and Danny leaned forward and squinted at him, trying to make out his words as they crossed his lips. “It's only,” Scott checked his laptop, “9:30, I thought you had a draft due this week?” Danny stretched his neck out and rolled his eyes.

“I do,” he bent down to pack his laptop into his bag, groaning again as his back cracked. “But I’ve been in this library for almost twelve hours, I need proper coffee, and,” his stomach growled low in the quiet of the room interrupting his speech. “Probably a proper meal. I’m gonna head down to the coffee house a few blocks from here.” He slung his bag over his shoulder, grabbing the toque from where it had fallen on the floor. “You wanna come?”

Scott shook his head dismally. “I need to have the annotation for my bibliography done by Thursday and I’ve gotten into a good rhythm.” He scrunched up his nose. “Have whipped cream on whatever you get, in my honor.”

“See you at home then,” he replied. Scott smiled and popped his headphones back in as Danny saluted him and quietly transversed the library floor, littered with students in desks with laptops, slumped against the shelving fixtures with stacks of books and sticky notes, and finally those loitering around the circulation desk trying to avoid whatever work they had.

“See you tomorrow?” Kimmo was sitting as his desk, going over what seemed to be the last stack of paperwork. Danny smiled and nodded, pulling out his headphones and plugging them into his phone, bracing for the chill of the air outside.

Danny cursed silently to himself as the wind buffeted him, and shoved his face further into his jacket in response. The buildings in this section of New York created a brutal wind tunnel, and although it was only three blocks to the coffee shop, it felt like it could have been miles in the steadily dropping temperature.

Finally making it to the shop, he threw open the door and relished the heat pouring out. He strode up to the counter of the mostly-empty coffeehouse, pulling out an earbud to place his order. “Can I get a moccachino with an extra shot of espresso?” The barista eyed him warily before writing it down. “With whipped cream?” He offered a weak smile that was returned by the other man.

“Anything else?” He cocked an eyebrow at Danny, who felt his stomach clench painfully around the nothing he had eaten recently.

“Something that constitutes real food.” He glanced up at the menu, scanning it quickly. “Uh, do you still have the turkey and pesto sandwich?” The barista nodded, scratching it onto the paper and giving him a number.

“That’ll be seven-fifty,” he said, placing the cup next to the register. “I’ll make your coffee now, but the sandwich’ll probably take a little while.” Danny nodded, taking the little metal stand that held the laminated number. _48_ , he noted, and shuffled it into his arms with his phone and wallet, moving over to the far counter to wait for the coffee.

The barista was quick, and in less time than it took him to catch up on his twitter feed, Danny was juggling the thick china mug, complete with saucer, and swiveling around to find a place to sit. It was just as empty as it had been when he walked in, only a few patrons scattered at various intervals. He shuffled carefully to a high-topped table, the wood old and the varnish fading.

Smiling, he placed the contents of his arms onto it before sliding onto the stool and attempting to make sense of it. Danny had his fingers closed around the cold metal of his laptop, pausing before deciding to abandon his paper tonight in an attempt to study for his exam later in the week. Fishing further into the depths of his bag, he pulled out a small, battered moleskin that held the notes from his torts class.

“Forty-eight,” came the eventual call from behind the counter.

“Thanks,” Danny said in a near whisper as he handed the number over in exchange for the plate, warm and emanating a scent that made his mouth water. He took a quick look around on his way back to the table, but nearly missed tripping over his own feet as his eyes caught on one person in particular. There was a man, probably near his own age, Danny thought, sitting on a leather chair in the far corner of the cafe, feet tucked carefully underneath him and thoroughly engrossed in a book. Danny was too far away to read the cover, but he watched the moving lights from the street illuminate the man’s hair, an obscene and unkempt red, which the other man was unsuccessfully attempting to contain behind his ear as he scribbled notes furiously into the margins of his book.

Evidently, Danny had been staring for just long enough for the other man to notice. He looked up from over the top of his book and shot Danny a quick smile, who, shocked out of his daze, offered a quick smile back before the burn in his cheeks forced him to turn around. Stumbling slightly, Danny made it back to his seat, quickly throwing on his headphones and diving into his notes to avoid any further social blunders.

It wasn’t until a while later that someone tapped him on the shoulder, and he was surprised to see the barista, now also bleary-eyed, grabbing the plate from his table. “Hey man, I’m sorry to kick you out but we’re closed, so, you know,” he shrugged apologetically.

 

“Shit, sorry, I didn’t realize how late it was,” he looked down, the numbers on his phone reading quarter past midnight. He quickly shoved his notes back into his bag, and pulled his toque out from where it had been buried underneath everything. “Thanks, and sorry again. About, you know,” he gestured vaguely to the space he had been occupying.

“Don’t worry about it, you’re not the only one still here,” he nodded towards the opposite corner of the cafe where the, _shit_ , Danny thought to himself, the man he’d been staring at earlier was burrowing his face into his scarf and shoving his hands in his pockets as he headed towards the door. Danny followed suit, and tried not to trip over his own feet.

Fiddling with his headphones, Danny popped them back into his ears and carefully shut the door behind him on his way out. He paused for a moment, trying to see if the other man was still around, but something in his heart sank when he realized that he must have already headed down to the subway platform. Rolling his eyes at himself, Danny made the brief walk back to his own apartment.

Danny locked his front door behind him as he came in, and nearly jumped as Scott dropped a plate in the sink. “Holy fuck Danny you scared the shit out of me,” the other man shouted from the kitchen.

“Same here man, honestly. Did you get your work done?” Scott stuck his head out from the wall and frowned, shaking his head slightly. Danny rolled his eyes in response and dropped his coat on the floor.

“Hey,” Scott warned pointing the wet dishcloth at Danny, “I got everything in the word document source-wise, and I have general notes under each one. And pick that up!” He flung the rag at Danny, who narrowly avoided it and grimaced as it landed on his coat.

“That is absolutely disgusting,” Danny laughed as he dumped his bag on the couch and resigned himself to picking up not only his coat, but the dirty cloth as well.

“Whatever man,” Scott called from the kitchen. “And anyway, you’re home kind of early, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, well, the place I was at closed at midnight and I ended up overstaying my welcome a little bit.” A burst of laughter emanated from the kitchen. “Normally I would’ve gone somewhere else but it's only Sunday night and I’m already exhausted.” Danny flopped over the arm of the couch as he spoke, slowly sliding down it. “Scott this fucking degree is killing me.”

“But think, soon you’ll be Danny Briere, attorney at law.” Scott had reemerged from the kitchen, and was sweeping his hand in front of him as he spoke. Danny was now laying on the couch, face smushed into the cushion.

“At what cost though, at what cost?” His words were muffled, but Scott was laughing as he rolled Danny over. “Look, go to bed.”

Danny groaned long and low. “I mean, you can sleep out here if you really want to, but every time you do you end up hating yourself, and me, in the morning. And I don’t want to hear about it.” Danny nodded and grudgingly sat up, taking a moment to brace himself before standing. He eventually stood up, once Scott had turned on his insufferable television show, and padded into the bedroom. Danny contemplated just sleeping in his clothes, but he used his last remaining bit of energy to change and pull the covers over his face.

 **  
**  


_Monday_

Claude woke up to his alarm blaring from the phone next to his face. He moaned as he grasped for it, trying to just make it shut up for two minutes. Two more minutes, that was all he needed…he had started to drift back to sleep when footsteps echoed down the hallway. “No,” he murmured.

“ _Claude_!” The ginger screwed his eyes further shut as light poured into his room.

“No, absolutely not,” He tugged the comforter up over his face in a futile attempt to block the light out. The footsteps creaked closer until he could feel someone looming over his bed.

“Yes, your alarm has been going off for at least twenty minutes,” the voice moved closer as Claude felt the blanket being torn from his face, the cold almost as rudely awakening as the light had been.

“Holy shit,” Claude sat bolt upright and almost hit the other man’s nose with his head in the process. “Jake are you serious?”

“Fuck Claude watch it, and yes I am,” Jake was standing over him, a mug of coffee in one hand and a travel cup in the other. “Get dressed now, I have coffee for you and your bag is by the door.”

“Thank you thank you thank you!” Claude leapt up and threw his arms around Jake in one fluid motion, almost toppling him with the force of it.

“Get off, please, and it's fine I have the day off anyway, get dressed!” Jake left, and Claude tore his sweatpants off in favor of jeans, threw on a long-sleeved shirt and a sweatshirt and some socks before following Jake out into the living room.

“Holy fuck, alright, happy Monday,” Claude nearly tripped as he tugged his shoes on, grabbed his scarf and hat, tossed his bag over his shoulders and grabbed the travel mug from Jake’s hand on his way out the door.

“Happy Monday to you too,” Jake called, shaking his head at his mess of a roommate as he shut the door.

**  
**

Claude made it into the lecture room just before his professor, and fought to catch his breath after the cold air had burned his lungs on the run to the subway, and stung them on the run to the academic building.

“It’s good to see everyone awake and alert this morning,” Dr. Hakstol deadpanned as he surveyed the small group before him, eyes lingering on Claude in particular. “I hope you all came prepared with the reading done, and at least a rough translation to work from.” Claude dug around in his bag, producing the text and notebook, and a few different coloured pens as well as some sticky notes and a highlighter, dumping them into the middle of the shared table.

He grinned as Amanda, the girl who sat next to him, produced some whiteout, a few pens, and a pack of cat sticky notes, adding them to the pile. They had long ago decided to split the responsibilities of bringing supplies to class, after they had constantly asked to borrow forgotten items from each other the first few weeks of the program.

 

The lecture was boring to say the least, and painfully so. He tried hard to focus on Dr. Hakstol’s words, but they all melted in his brain and made little to no sense. He groaned when they were finally dismissed, turning to Amanda. “So, you were a little late today,” she said, and raised an eyebrow at him.

Claude let his head drop to the table, face landing somewhere between his book and the pink sparkling pen he had been using to take notes. “Yeah.” He rolled so his face mouth wasn’t being smashed into the desk. “I slept through 20 minutes of my alarm.” He turned his gaze to Amanda’s face, and saw the shock in her eyes.

“Holy shit Claude!” She scooped half of the supplies into her bag. “You’re lucky you woke up.”

“Actually,” Claude rolled his head on the desk again, head now turned the other side, “Jake woke me up. I was trying to fall back to sleep. Ouch!” He winced as Amanda landed a slap to the back of his head.

“Jake is too good for you. He deserves better.” Claude finally sat up, his pride having been attacked.

“Hey, he’s not too good for me. He is a wonderful housewife, he even made me my coffee." He gestured to the empty mug, to further indicate his point.

“Oh my god. I cannot believe you. Or him. I just can’t understand boys.” She had slid her notes into her bag, and was putting her coat on.

“Come on, like Hillary hasn’t ever made you coffee?” Amanda spun around, giving Claude the most exasperated look she could possible manage.

“Yes, she has, but she is also my girlfriend. Jake is just your roommate.” She paused, a look of concern now spreading over her face. “Wait, he is just your roommate right?” Claude scoffed as he gathered his things rolling his eyes.

“Yes, I don’t think Wayne would appreciate me making a move on his boyfriend.”

“Good, I would think so. Hey, speaking of significant others, do you wanna join me and Hil for lunch? We’re grabbing a sandwich at the deli down the block.” Claude nodded, smiling, and followed her out of the building.

**  
**

Hillary was taller than Amanda, and nearly as tall as Claude. They grabbed a seat at the counter, spending too much time laughing at the names of the sandwiches and not enough actually ordering. After finishing, Hillary invited him to come back to their apartment for a few episodes of Friends, but Claude begged off, stating that he had work to do before his afternoon class. “Fine,” Amanda replied, sticking her tongue out at him.

“Whatever,” he rolled his eyes and smiled at the two of them before waving and heading out into the crisp air. The rest of the day passed in a similar fashion, mostly consisting of Claude fighting to stay awake and trying not to have a full-blown mental breakdown as his professors continued to assign papers and translations, even through email. He stopped home briefly, only to find a note from Jake that he was going to be out for the evening with Wayne. Sighing, Claude grabbed the swapped out his  textbooks for those he needed for his night’s work and headed back out into the cold.

He debated heading to his university’s library, but paused when he thought back to the man he had seen in the coffee house last night. He shook his head, because if he hadn’t seen him there before then what were the odds of him begin there again? _Still_ , he thought, _it’s worth a shot right_? He quickly thought about how ridiculous he was being but eventually found himself on the subway heading back towards the shop.

 

“You again!” The barista called out as Claude opened the door, shivering from the night air.

“Yes, me again.” Claude dropped his bag near his preferred chair and unwound his scarf as he shuffled towards the counter. “Sorry about last night, lost track of time.” He grinned sheepishly as he balled the scarf up, tossing it onto the chair behind him. “Hopefully I won’t be that late tonight.” The barista shook his head.

“It’s really not a problem, having people around helps me pretend it's not so bad to work here.” Claude paused until the other man’s face broke into a smile and laughed along with him. “Cafe latte?” Claude nodded, pulling out his wallet to pay.

“Can you put a shot of cinnamon flavor into it? I’m starting to feel a little festive.” The barista tried to hold in a laugh as Claude started to hum jingle bells.

“It's still a little too early for me,” the other man replied as he held out the cup to Claude. “I mean, it hasn’t even been Thanksgiving yet.” Claude nodded sympathetically before speaking.

“Yes, but real Thanksgiving was actually a few weeks ago. I have no idea what you Americans think you’re doing.” The other man laughed, rolling his eyes, and shook his head.

“Get your stupid Canadian ass out of here.” Claude smirked as he took the cup and the tiny plate in his hands and made his way back to the chair. He surveyed the room before tucking his legs underneath him, a little saddened to see no sign of the man from the night before. After a few moments, he eventually pulled out the book for tomorrow’s class, as well as a sheet of paper with some notes and rough meanings scribbled onto it, and set to work. Sighing, he resigned himself to a long night.

The night dragged on around him, and even though Claude knew he shouldn’t check the clock every five minutes, he continued to do so. He also continued to glance around the room, looking for the guy from the night before, each time to no avail. After finally finishing the assigned reading, he glanced down to his phone to check the time. The screen read 11:55, and Claude let out a breath. _Guess he didn’t come_. The door opened behind him, cold air snapping him from his thoughts.

 

“Hey, I’m terribly sorry, I know you close in five minutes, but is there any way I could still get a cup of coffee? If you haven’t cleaned up yet, that is.” Claude’s heart sped up, for reasons he didn’t know, as he recognized the man from the yesterday at the counter, brown hair tousled by the wind.  

“Not a problem,” the barista replied. “I know you’re now familiar with our closing time.” He smiled as he filled a take-out cup with coffee from a thermos. “I usually keep one full just in case someone runs in at the last minute.” He handed the cup to Danny, who smiled and accepted it graciously. “You’re not the only one who’s run in right before closing.”

“Thanks, I seriously appreciate it.” He paid and turned to leave, but froze briefly as he caught Claude staring at him. Freaking out internally, Claude refocused on his work in front of him as he attempted to shove it into his bag. He waited until the door had shut behind the other man  to stand and walk towards the door.

“See you! Probably tomorrow if we’re being honest.” He nodded as the barista waved him out, bracing himself for the frigid night air and the inevitably crowded subway ride back to his apartment. Seriously, what were these people doing at midnight on a Monday?

**  
**

_Tuesday_

__

Danny thanked the gods above as he woke to the sun already up, praising them for their blessing of a day with only one thing to do, and not until the afternoon. Scott was already out of the house, what with an early lab and all, and Danny slowly made his way into the kitchen to start brewing coffee for himself. He flipped on the tv, settling on Law and Order reruns and debating if this counted as studying or if he actually needed to open a book later. After the coffee was warm and in the carafe, he popped a pair of frozen waffles into the toaster oven and praised the gods again, this time for the invention of pre-made waffles.

When he had finished eating, Danny checked the time. _11:45._ Scott wouldn’t be back for a few hours still, so Danny dropped his plate into the sink and shuffled back to his room and shut the door. He browsed the internet for a while, surfing through Twitter and Instagram, Facebook and Yik Yak before opening Tumblr. He scrolled for a few minutes through various posts, until a particularly graphic gif of two men came up. Danny felt a familiar pooling of heat in his stomach, and let his hand drift below the band of his sweatpants. He ended up browsing the blog for a while, hand lazily stroking his hardening cock, until his thoughts started to drift.

He thought back to past boyfriends and girlfriends, of late drunken nights and long days spent in be, mind continued to wander until it ended up on the ginger man from the coffee shop. Danny thought about the way his hair fell messily around his face, the structure of his cheek bones, how he looked looked when he concentrated on his reading, and felt the heat start to build and grow. He sucked in a deep breath as his orgasm hit him fast, moaning softly to himself as he spilled into his own hand. He laid there for a few moments, relishing in the afterglow and feeling his heart slow back down, before rolling to his feet and ditching his sleep clothes in favor of a shower.

Finally wearing real clothing, Danny packed a few books that he would need for the day and his laptop into a bag, slung a coat on and grabbed his iPod, heading out to attempt to get some work done. Detouring from his usual routine, he boarded the subway bound for the coffee shop he had spent the last few nights in. It was late afternoon by the time he made it there, and the afternoon crowd had packed the place. He waited patiently until a table opened, a small, single person table tucked away against the wall. Danny carefully pulled his books out, stacking them precariously on top of each other to make room for his coffee and laptop. Popping headphones in, he dove into the mound of work that never seemed to shrink no matter how much he did.

He paused a few times to stretch his legs or refill his coffee, even remembering to grab some soup for dinner. The crowd had thinned out a lot, he thought to himself, when he finally checked the time. _11:50. Shit_. Danny sighed, realizing he had spent almost the entire day sitting in the hard, wooden chair. He took stock of what he had accomplished, though, and decided that it was probably worth it, and he could comfortably call it a night when he got home. Standing, he waved a goodnight to the barista who was wiping down the counters, and probably counting the seconds until he could leave. Danny fished around in his bag for his gloves as he headed towards the door. Giving up on finding them, he jammed them in his pockets.

“I've never seen you here before, but this makes three days in a row.” Danny nearly froze as the other man spoke, holding the door open for him as they left the shop behind.

“Yeah, I, uh, usually don’t stray too far from my apartment or the library, but I needed a change of scene tonight. I’m Danny, by the way.” He moved his hands in an apologetic way while they were still in his jacket pockets.

“Claude.” The door shut behind them and Danny grinned weakly, leaning towards the direction of his apartment.

“I’m going this way then,” he gingerly took a step backwards. Claude’s face faltered for a moment, but his smile soon returned.

“Yeah, mine’s this way,” he cocked his head in the opposite direction. “Maybe I’ll see you around sometime?”

 

Danny felt his grin widen, and nodded. “Yeah, definitely.” He offered a farewell, and turned to walk the few blocks back to his apartment.

_Wednesday_

__

The morning had started off as good indicator of how Claude’s day was going to go. _A typical Wednesday,_ he thought to himself as he grabbed a burnt piece of toast on the way out of his apartment, coffee sloshing out of thermos as he ran down the stairs, already late for his first class of the day. The subway was packed to capacity, and Claude had to hold his thermos above his head for the duration of the ride, wishing that he could just drink some of the coffee, as it might make him feel more human.

 

Claude had to put an unholy amount of effort into staying awake during his lecture, and Amanda did her job to poke him with a pen every so often or turn his page to the correct one for him. “You’re a godsend, you know?” Claude’s voice was thick with exhaustion as he spoke, his professor giving them all a few minutes to discuss the passage at hand.

“I try,” Amanda offered him a weak smile in response. “Did you get any sleep last night?” Claude looked down at the desk and picked at some of the gouges left in the wood.

 

“No, not really.” He looked up, barely meeting Amanda’s gaze.

“You generally sleep like a log, even when we have an assignment due the next day. What’s up?” She quickly pushed herself back in her chair, creating a huge space between them. “You’re not sick, are you?” Claude shook his head, rolling his eyes.

“No, I’m not.” He sighed and grabbed a pen before using that to pick at the holes in the desk. “If you have to know, which going by your face I guess you do, I might have met someone.” He regretted the words the instant they left his mouth, and he continued to stare at the table top to avoid seeing Amanda’s expression.

“Oh my god Claude!” She smacked his arm, just hard enough to startle him. “What do you mean might have? And who is he? Do I know him? Of course not you just met him, but when can I meet him?” Claude finally looked up, not surprised at all by the look of sheer excitement on her face.

“Okay, I’m going to answer one question at a time, because that’s all I have the energy for. Yes, might have, because it’s only the second time I’ve seen him. His name is Danny, and he likes coffee. No you don’t, and never if you keep acting like this.” Fortunately for Claude, his professor gathered the class back together, and he managed to sneak out on Amanda after they were adjourned. He decided it was probably for the best to ignore the dozen messages she had left him that were making his phone buzz in his pocket.

Deciding to try and make the day at least a little bit better, Claude headed back to the coffee shop. The gods must have taken pity on him, because the barista who had been there the past three days was nowhere in sight. Instead, a short brunette stood at the counter and greeted him as he entered. Placing his usual order, which he had to remind himself to actually say this time, he dropped his bags near one of the overstuffed armchairs in the corner and waited patiently for his coffee and scone. Settling down, he took out his work, determined to make the most out of whatever amount of time he could manage to focus for.

It was about an hour later that Claude resurfaced, lifting his eyes from the book to scan the room. A thin smile spread across his face as he saw Danny’s mussed hair peeking out over another one of the armchairs. Deciding to stretch his legs, Claude meandered over towards him, under the guise of returning his mug to the counter. “Hey, long time no see.” He waited for Danny to respond, but to no avail. He peered down to see the other man was wearing headphones. Glancing at his laptop, Claude attempted to read what he was typing. _Based on the legal precedent set by Clermont York Associates LLC v. Zgodny in 2013_ … Claude blinked, trying to absorb the meaning of the words in front of him.

“May I help you?” Claude startled at the voice, only now realizing that Danny had taken his headphones out and was staring at him.

“Oh, uh, sorry,” Claude took a step back. “Just wanted to see what you were working on.” Danny smiled and tilted the screen towards him.

“Stupid essay on NYC housing court laws. Honestly,” Danny turned the screen back towards himself, “you’d do better not to read it. It's mostly garbage at this point.” Claude narrowed his eyes slightly, still squinting to see the screen.

“Law school?” Claude gave up on trying to read the screen, instead choosing to lean against the chair. Danny nodded in response.

“Columbia actually.” Claude’s eyebrows shot up.

“Holy shit, look at you.” He grinned at Danny, revealing the empty space where a tooth should be.

 

“What about you?” Danny gestured to Claude, and then behind him to the pile of books on the table.

“Linguistics at NYU, mostly Spanish and French though,” he shrugged.

“Ph.D or-”

“Masters,” his smile split his face again. He cocked an eyebrow at Danny, “just how old do you think I am?”

“No, I, uh, didn’t mean,” Danny was squirming slightly, trying to come up with an answer.

“Dude, kidding,” Claude ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back and out of the way. “So, you from the city?”

“No actually, across the border.”

“Canada?” Danny nodded in response. “Me too! Ontario, close to the Quebec border.”

“I’m from Quebec, Gatineu, if you-” Danny’s phone rang in his lap, and alarm flashing across the screen. “Shit, sorry, I’ve got mock trail across town in a little so I’ve got to run.” He shoved his laptop into his bag, grabbing the coat off the back of the chair.

“Hey, no problem, I’ve got a bunch to do too, enjoy your mock trial.” He flashed a grin, noting how Danny blushed slightly.

“Will do, I’ll see you then.” He threw his bag on his shoulder and headed towards the door.

“Tomorrow?” Claude called out to him just as he reached the door.

“Um?” Danny paused, fingers brushing the handle but not moving.

“I mean, you’re in here a lot recently, and I just figured maybe we could talk? Get to know each other?” Danny didn’t respond, but Claude watched as his mouth opened as if to speak. “I’ll even buy your coffee,” He grinned, and watch the heat rise back into Danny’s cheeks, although it could have been the cold rush of air as he opened the door.

“Sure, I never turn down free coffee.” Danny smiled back, taking a step out into the street. “Does six work for you?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you then.” Danny nodded and waved, letting the door drop shut behind him. Claude returned the mug and curled back into his seat, giddy with anticipation, and attempted to  finish the translation due the next day.

**  
**

_Wednesday_

Danny awoke to a thin layer of snow dusting his window frame, and his breath visible in front of his face. He rolled over, his clock reading quarter past seven. His alarm was slated to go off in fifteen minutes, so he decided to not move until then. Instead, he called out to Scott who was presumably already awake and functioning. “Why the hell is it so cold in here?” His voice was thick with sleep and muffled under the blankets he had piled around himself.

“Sorry dude, I set the thermostat low last night, it wasn’t supposed to snow this week,” Scott had stuck his head in Danny’s room, flipping on the light as he did so. Danny groaned, and tugged his blankets further up. “I’ve already turned the heat up, asshole, so just deal with it.” Danny stuck his head out and gave Scott the evil eye before retreating under the sheets again. “Fine, fine, there’s coffee in the pot when you decide to behave like an adult.”

Danny searched around for his phone, pulling it out to check his email, Instagram, Twitter, and various other social media sources before finally deciding to get out of bed. Swearing under his breath as his bare feet hit the cold air, he quickly shuffled to the closet to throw on a robe and slippers before trudging out into the kitchen. He grabbed a mug from the cabinet and filled it with the coffee that Scott had made before making his way to the bathroom and starting the shower. He let the hot water pour over his skin while he took a long sip on his coffee. Carefully, he set the mug down on the ledge of the tub and ran some shampoo through his hair, rinsing it, and letting the conditioner sit while he finished draining his mug.

 

“Are you drinking coffee in the shower again?” The heat that had collected in the tiny bathroom was sucked out as Scott opened the door.

“Yeah, and since you’re here you can take this and fill it back up,” he stuck his hand holding the mug out of the shower curtain.

“You’re a disaster man,” Scott grabbed the mug, finished brushing his teeth, and left. Danny seriously considered laying down in the shower and going back to sleep, but eventually decided it was probably time to get dressed, if he wanted to make his class on time that is.

Scott had left by the time Danny finally put clothes on, which wasn’t surprising given the fact that he had spent fifteen minutes deciding on a shirt since he wouldn’t be able to change before tonight, but the other man had left a mug of coffee on the counter for him. Silently thanking him, Danny dumped the mug into his travel thermos and threw on his coat, heading out the door and down the stairs.

Danny’s first class of the day seemed to drag on for eternity, and his thoughts kept coming back to his date, wait could he even call it a date? Danny frowned a little as he thought, pen twirling through his fingers instead of taking notes. He had only met the guy a few days ago, and spoken to him maybe one and a half times. Danny sighed, dropping his pen and propping his chin in his hand. _It’s probably not a date_ , he decided, but couldn’t resist the thought of Claude sitting across from him, ginger hair wild as he grinned and revealed his missing tooth. _Must be from hockey_ , Danny thought, and made a note to ask him if he played as a kid this evening.

When his professor finally let them go, Danny trudged to the study room down the hall and laid out his books, laptop, and notes, determined to get through at least the next three paragraphs of his essay. Time passed slowly, and the growling of his stomach roused him from his focus. Wrinkling his nose, Danny stuck his hand into his bag and rooted around, eventually pulling out a granola bar and some chocolate. He shrugged and decided that that would have to be enough for lunch.

Eventually, though, the growling returned with avengence. He checked his phone for the time, and the screen flashed 2:37.   _Close enough,_  he decided, and packed his books up. He had just enough time to stop at the deli next to the subway station and grab a sandwich before catching train a few blocks to the building he was meeting his project partners in. Reuben in one hand and phone in the other, Danny boarded his train and found a seat for the three minute ride.

It was easy enough to get off the relatively empty train, and he threw the now-empty deli paper into the trash can as he headed back above ground. The cold wind whipped at his face, and he was thankful the building was only a few hundred feet from the station. Heat spilled out from the lobby as he opened the door, and he took a moment to relish in it before heading up the stairs.

It seemed ridiculous, Danny thought as he made his way into the room that contained only one of his four partners, that they were still doing group projects in law school. Braydon, who was sitting at the table with his laptop open, gave him a weak smile and shrugged his shoulders. Quickly Danny checked the time, it was only a little after three, so he decided to give the rest of them a few more minutes. The rest showed up eventually, and they were mildly productive for the remainder of their meeting, save for the 45 minute break to watch Buzzfeed videos. The clock drew closer to six, and Danny felt his stomach twist and churn in anticipation. Their group parted ways, and he anxiously tugged on his coat as he set out to walk the few blocks to the coffee shop.

It was a cold night, but the lights of the city glowed as more than a few shops had already set up their Christmas displays. The feeling of almost-nausea grew as Danny approached the door, but completely subsided in favor of a spreading happiness as he saw Claude sitting at a two-person table, bouncing his leg and checking his phone repeatedly. He watched as Claude’s head shot up when the door opened, and felt his heart skip a beat as the smile spread across his face. Without realizing it, a matching smile spread across his own face. “Hey,” he pulled the chair out from the table and sat down.

“Hey,” Claude’s eyes wrinkled a little as he continued to smile. “I would have put your order in, but I didn’t know what you wanted,” he looked down and picked at the table, “so I just grabbed a table.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Danny shrugged his coat off and let it fall over the back of his chair. “I’ll come up with you.” The pair made their way up to the counter and gave their order to the barista, a caramel mocha for Danny and a cinnamon latte for Claude. Danny watched as Claude filed the information away for future use. “So, Claude,” he said as they sat back down at their table, “you’re from Canada too?”

Claude nodded and grinned around the rim of his mug. “Yup, northern Ontario. You said you were from Gatineau, right?”

“Yeah, so how’d you end up down here then?” Danny wrapped his hands around his mug, letting the warmth spread through his skin.

Claude took a moment before he answered, swirling the contents of his mug as he thought. “NYU has a great program, obviously,” Danny nodded in agreement, “but I also needed to get away from where I was.” He took another pause and a sip of his coffee.

“Same, sort of,” Danny took the silence as his cue to pick up the conversation. “Columbia is great, but I needed a change from Montreal.” Claude looked up at him, curious. “I did my undergrad at McGill, where’d you do yours?”

“University of Western Ontario.”

“Oh, don’t they have a pretty good hockey team? I think I remember considering them when I was looking for schools,” Claude looked up at Danny as he spoke, smiling.

“You played hockey?”

“Of course, I played up until college. Wasn’t quite good enough to make McGill’s team, you know?”

Claude nodded before speaking. “I played too, for UWO actually.” Danny whistled.

“Well look at you,” he smiled as he watched a thin blush spread across Claude’s face.

“I wasn’t really that good, and I ended up taking a bad hit my junior year,” his face fell a little. “Really messed up my knee, and I couldn’t skate after that.”

“Shit man, I’m so sorry.” Danny squirmed in his seat a little, slightly uncomfortable.

“No, don’t worry about it honestly. I thought I could make a career out of it, actually, but I wouldn't have applied to any grad schools if I could still skate, so in a way it was a blessing in disguise I guess.” Danny nodded, conceding his point. “Well, I got to meet you anyway,” Danny’s head shot up out of his control, and he saw Claude staring down at the table as he spoke.

“I’m flattered, honestly, but I’m sure you’ve met much more interesting people in the city. I mean, just outside I saw a girl with hot pink hair gelled into spikes.” Claude sputtered out a laugh, staring incredulously at Danny. “I’m being serious, so clearly, much more interesting than me.” The two broke down into laughter, and spent the next few hours trading stories of their childhoods, undergrad careers, and a few drunken mishaps that occurred when Claude decided to study abroad in the Czech Republic for the summer with his roommate.

“So you actually ended up in a whorehouse, a real honest to god whorehouse, and they thought you wanted a threesome?” Danny could barely get the words out, tears streaming down his face from laughter.

“I swear to you, and Jake had to explain to them that we were looking for the theatre and had taken a wrong turn.” Claude hiccupped and tried to catch his breath. “This girl did not believe us, I swear Danny, she kept trying to lead us upstairs.” Danny laughed even harder, throwing his head back. In the process, he caught sight of the clock on the wall.

“Holy shit, it’s almost eleven thirty,” he looked back down at Claude, who was barely holding in a burst of laughter.

“I can’t believe we’ve been sitting here for more than five hours, holy shit.” Claude checked his phone, as if he refused to believe the clock on the wall.

“I don’t want to things short, but I have a rough draft of an essay due tomorrow and I should probably head home and finish it...” Danny let his voice trail off as his gaze fell to the floor.

“Me too, actually, I’ve got a bunch of reading to do for tomorrow. But this was fun!” His face lit up as he tried to catch Danny’s eyes.

“It really was, I had a great time,” Danny could feel the smile tug on his face. “Do you have plans for this time tomorrow?”

Claude took a moment before answering. “Do you mean eleven thirty at night or six?” He blinked, trying to look innocent, but a grin was threatening to split his face. Danny just rolled his eyes.

“I meant six,” he waited for Claude to respond, a slight anxiety building in his stomach.

“I don’t think so, but I’ve got a study group meeting that I’m not really sure when it’s going to end. But hey, give me your number and I’ll text you to let you know a better idea of when I’ll be free.” Claude handed Danny his phone, and Danny plugged his number in. “Awesome, I’ll text you later so you have my number.”

“Sounds good.” The two gathered their coats and hats, wrapping their scarves around themselves as they made their way to the exit. “I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Danny gave a quick nod in Claude’s direction as a goodbye.

“Yup, I’ll text you when we’re wrapping our meeting up,” Claude waved farewell as the split and headed in different directions.

_Thursday_

“So, Claude, why do you keep looking at the clock?” Amanda was dangling her pen in front of Claude’s face. He finally snapped out of his daze and looked back down at his notes.

“No reason, just, uh, getting hungry.” He smiled weakly, but Amanda saw through him.

“That’s a bunch of bullshit.” She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, deep in thought. “Wait, you’re meeting that guy!” She shot up to her feet, giddy with excitement for Claude. “Danny, right?”

“Oh my god Amanda I’m going to kill you.” Claude lowered his head onto his book, groaning.

“Wait, are you meeting him for dinner?” She grabbed her cellphone off the table to check the time. “Holy shit it’s after six, when were you supposed to meet him?” Claude opened his mouth to talk, but Amanda waved her hand in front of his face and cut him off. “No, it doesn’t matter, go,” she turned to address the rest of the group. “Meeting adjourned, everyone get out.” She turned back to face Claude, “seriously, would you just go?”

“Fine, fine,” he grabbed his phone and shot Danny a text letting him know he was on his way. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he tossed the farewell over his shoulder as he left.

“And you better tell me all about it!” Claude just waved at her and headed downstairs and outside.

He got a message back from Danny as he stepped off the train. _I’m already here, I just decided to do work here today so I wasn’t stuck halfway across town when you finished_. Claude smiled to himself, and looked up from his phone to enter the shop. He saw Danny sitting at a table his laptop spread open in front of him. He snuck up behind him, and dropped his bag on the floor.

“So,” Claude slid into the seat across from Danny, startling him and nearly causing him to knock over his mug. He watched as the ginger stifled a laugh.

“What,” his voice was thin, but the grin on his face betrayed his tone.

“What are you doing tomorrow night?” Heat prickled on his skin.

“Nothing, why?” Danny causally crossed his arms, looking inquisitively at Claude.

“A friend of mine is having a party, and seeing as how you’ve been here every night this week until nearly closing, I was wondering if you wanted to come out and blow off some steam.” Danny took a moment to think before answering.

“I really should be working on my thesis, or at least some of the reading for next week…”

“On a Friday night?” Danny nodded sheepishly. “Come on,” Claude’s eyes widened, and he stuck his lip out a little. “Can’t you take one night off?” Danny sighed deeply, rolling his eyes in fake exasperation.

 

“I suppose.” Claude’s face light up at his words.

“I knew you couldn’t resist.” Danny rolled his eyes again.

“Where is this party?”

“It’s actually out in Brooklyn,” Danny moved to speak, but Claude cut him off. “It’s this kid I know from NYU, he’s an undergrad and he and a couple of his friends have a place out there.”

 

“Wait, you’re taking me to an undergrad party?” Danny cocked an eyebrow.

“Well, technically, yes,” Claude looked down at his hands.

“Are these kids even legal?”

 

“Well, I mean,-” Danny cut him off.

“I changed my mind, I don’t want to know.”

Danny watched as Claude looked down at his fingers, picking at the nails a little. “But you’ll still come, right?”

“Of course I will. So I assume we’re not driving, then.”

“Obviously. We can meet here and take the subway. The house is only a few blocks from a station, so we only need to change once.” Danny nodded.

“What time should we leave?”

“It’ll take about 45 minutes to get there, so we should probably aim to leave around 9:45.” Groaning, Danny stared at Claude.

“I am an old man, that is my bedtime.” Claude just looked back at him.

 

“One, you are not that old, and two, in what universe is a law student asleep by 9:45? Besides, you’re always here until closing anyway,” Claude shot him an incredulous look.

“Okay,” Danny conceded, “I’ll give you that. Should I bring anything?” Claude hummed thoughtfully, looking off into the corner.

“I think they have enough beer, and knowing DZ probably vodka and tequila, and I’m bringing rum so…” Despite the urge, Danny tried to keep his eyes from bugging out. “Maybe some gin?”

“Are we supplying the entirety of your college with liquor?” Danny felt his jaw drop a little. He closed it when he saw the look Claude was giving him. “Okay, okay, I can get some on the way here tomorrow, but honestly.”

Claude shrugged, the motion tossing his hair even more awry. “They’ve got a big group, mostly guys from their high school hockey team who hung around the area.”

“You’re only friends with hockey players?” The playful note to Danny’s voice undercut any harshness to his words.

Laughing, Claude gestured to Danny. “And ex-hockey players like you I guess.”

“Oh, gee, thanks,” voice dripping in sarcasm, Danny shut his planner and tugged his laptop closer to him. “Oh man,” Danny ran his hands through his hair, “I haven’t been out drinking in a while.”

Claude stared at him blankly. “Are you that much of a loser?” Danny snorted and rolled his eyes, reaching out to swat Claude.

“No, I’m just a law student.” His eyes glinted with humor as he spoke.

“I mean, same thing basically right?” Claude couldn’t keep himself from laughing as he narrowly avoided Danny’s hand for a second time. Danny’s phone buzzed on the table, and he took a second to look at it before picking it up.

“Uh-huh...yeah, no yeah...of course...you can have ice cream if you want...oh you’re out?...well I guess I can pick some up...okay, what kind...okay, I’ll be there in a few.” Danny hit the end call button and sighed. “My roommate’s girlfriend just broke up with him. They were together for a long time and he’s not taking it so well, so I think I might have to head out, sorry,” he gave Claude a weak apologetic look.

“Don’t worry about it, it was supposed to be my turn to make dinner anyway, so I should probably bring a pizza back to my roommate as an apology.” Danny rolled his eyes again, and threw his coat on.

“You’re a mess, you know that?”

“Yeah, but I’m your mess,” Claude batted his eyelashes at Danny, who fake gagged in response. “Oh yeah, real mature.”

“So meet outside at nine forty five tomorrow?” Claude nodded, and the two waved goodbye, each heading back to their respective roommates.

**  
**

_Friday_

Scott had remembered to turn the heat on before he left this morning, and for that Danny was grateful. It was the one saving grace, that at 7:45 in the morning he wouldn’t need to add extra layers on just to make it to the bathroom, where he would dump them all on the floor in favor of the heat of the shower. Instead, he left his pajamas on the floor of his bedroom and padded into the bathroom, flicking on the shower and letting it wake him up. He decided on sweatpants for the day, knowing he’d have time to come home and change before going out this evening. Danny also decided to treat himself this morning, and splurged on a breakfast burrito from the vendor in front of subway station before class.

The day seemed to drag on more than usual, as his professor returned the exams they had taken last week, and had thoroughly ripped them to shreds it seemed. Sighing, Danny found himself staring at the clock as the minutes lulled into one another, until they were finally dismissed. Sliding his exam into his bag, he nearly sprinted out of the door and towards his apartment, eager to get home.

The clock flashed 3:45 as Danny let himself back into his apartment, surprised to find Scott lounging on the couch, Adventure Time playing on the screen in front of him. “What’s up?”

Scott turned around to face him, looking like he had just been woken up from a nap. “Kimmo said he heard about me and, well, ya know, let me go home early from work today.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

“Well that’s nice, you really could use a day off every once and awhile.” Danny dropped his bag and coat on the floor, flopping down on the couch next to Scott.

“You’re home early too, don’t you usually go to the library on Friday nights?” Danny shuffled around, resituating himself.

“Yeah, but you remember Claude? The guy I met at the coffee shop?” Scott sat up, surprised to find Danny sitting on his legs.

“Oh yeah, didn’t you have dinner with him for the past two nights?” Danny nodded, letting Scott’s legs go free.

“Well he invited me to a party tonight, so I thought it would probably be best to come home and nap first. Can’t be falling asleep at a frat house, ya know?” Scott nodded solemnly, clearly remembering some incident from his undergrad.

“So you’re going to a party with him. Must be serious, eh?” Danny rolled his eyes so hard it hurt and smacked Scott’s knee.

“Oh yeah real serious. I think he’s planning on proposing to me tonight.” This time it was Scott’s turn to smack Danny.

“Don’t be a little shit. It’s good for you, getting out and meeting people I mean. And, well, getting drunk too.” He laughed a little, gesturing to the beer bottle on the floor. “Go, nap,” he waved his hand haphazardly in the direction of Danny’s room. “What time do you want me to wake you up?” Danny paused to do a little mental math before answering.

“I think seven would be good. Enough time to wake up a little and eat something, and grab a quick shower.” He stood up and stretched out. “I’m gonna sleep right here though,” he made his way over to the arm chair, curling up onto the cushion and closing his eyes.

“You’re like a freaking cat man. It’s creepy.” Scott shook his head and turned the volume down a little as Danny drifted off.

Danny awoke a little while later the the sound of pots banging in the kitchen, and the smell of marinara permeating the apartment. “Mhm?” He rolled over on the chair to peer into the kitchen.

“Sorry bud!” Scott stuck his head out. “I dropped a pot, but I’m in the middle of making some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.” Danny nodded, rubbing a hand across his eyes.

“Time s’it?” He sat up, letting his head drop onto the back of the chair.

“Like six fifty, I was going to wake you up when the pasta was done, but you can grab a chair out here if you want. Coffee’s on too.” Scott returned to the kitchen, presumably to finish cooking. Danny stood up carefully, unfolding himself in the process. He made his way into the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee and sitting down at the table. It only took a few more minutes to finish the spaghetti, and Scott fixed both of them a plate before sitting down as well. They ate in relative quiet, each checking their phone periodically for emails or texts.

“That was really freaking good, thanks,” Danny grinned up at Scott who smiled back, shaking his head.

“Honestly though, it was nothing.” He stood, gathering both of their plates to put in the sink. “I also took the liberty of laying out an outfit for you for tonight, it’s chilling on your bed.”

“Scott, I love you.” Danny stood up, draining his mug and placing it on the counter.

“I know you do, now go shower and get dressed.” Danny eventually made it to the shower, though after Scott shooed him away from the coffee. He made sure not to set the water too hot, but just cool enough to help wake him up. Clad only in a towel, he snuck into his room to check the outfit that Scott had picked out. Dark denim jeans, the ones that were particularly tight across his ass, he noted, and a black button down shirt with silver pinstrips. He nodded, agreeing with Scott’s choice, until he noted that Scott had also taken the liberty of laying out a pair of boxer briefs for him as well. Rolling his eyes, he toweled off and pulled the clothes on.

“I don’t appreciate you going through my underwear drawer you know,” Danny called out as he went back into the bathroom to brush his teeth and spray a little cologne.

“Uh, I’m pretty sure you actually do,” Scott responded from the living room. Danny just shook his head, reaching for a comb and some gel to beat his hair into submission. He was fortunate, he thought, that it behaved well most days. Decided it looked good enough, he checked the clock before doubling back to grab his boots from his closet. 8:30. He smiled and headed out to the living room to lace them up, dropping down next to Scott as he did so. Satisfied, he stood back up and posed in front of Scott.

“Well? What do you think?” He did a little spin, smiling widely as he waited for Scott’s reaction.

“You look great, and honestly, if I was into guys at all Claude would have a little competition.” Danny rolled his eyes.

“Thanks,” he stood for a second, trying to gather his thoughts.

“What time do you need to leave?”

“Well, it’s about a half an hour walk to the coffee shop, and I need to stop and get some gin,” Scott gave him an inquisitive look. “It’s rude to show up empty handed, and they already have a lot of tequila and vodka, or so I was told. Anyway, I should probably leave soon.” Scott stood up quickly, nearly knocking Danny over.

“Shots before you leave!” Scott pushed past him on his way to the kitchen, and grabbed a bottle of vodka out of the freezer and two shot glasses, pouring one for each of them.

“Just one,” Danny called out as he followed him into the kitchen. Scott shook his head and passed him the shot glass.

“Maybe you are getting old man,” Danny’s face twisted in disgust and he raised the glass, toasting with Scott before swallowing it down. “Go get ‘em tiger,” Danny turned to grab his phone and wallet.

“Never say that again, please,” he shoved everything in his pockets.

“Oh, but for real, are you planning on bringing him back here?” Danny paused mid step, turning to face Scott again.

“I actually don’t know, but I’ll text you if I end up bringing him back. Otherwise, assume I’m either going home with him or coming home alone.” Scott nodded and saluted him as he left, smiling as he shut the door behind him.

**  
**

The wind had died down from the last few days, but the chill was a little deeper than it had been. Danny hugged the buildings as he walked, ducking into a liquor store about halfway there. The warm air was welcoming, but the crowd of people was not. He made his way down the aisle that held the tequila and gin, finding a decent sized bottle of gin that didn’t look too awful, but also didn’t blow his budget. After paying, he tucked the bottle under his arm and continued on the coffee shop.

Claude was already there waiting for him, dressed similarly in dark jeans and a plaid button down shirt. “Hey good looking,” he called out to Danny as he approached. Pulling him into a quick hug, he wrapped an arm around Danny’s shoulders and guided him towards a subway entrance.

“You don’t look half bad yourself,” he replied, letting himself tuck in closer against Claude under the guise of keeping warm. The two descended onto the platform, boarding the first train that pulled into the station. They killed the time during the ride trading stories of classes from the day, and before they knew it they had pulled into their transfer station. They exited, switched trains, and got off two stops later.

“It’s not too far from here, only about a block this way,” Claude gestured with his elbow, hands in his pockets, and Danny resumed his spot next to Claude as they walked down the sidewalk. Soon enough, Danny saw a house with dim lighting and a number of people standing around outside. As they headed up the driveway, the sound of music poured out of the door that kept opening and closing. Claude grabbed the door, opening it and shoving Danny inside before pulling it closed behind him. “Here, just put the bottle here,” Claude grabbed the gin out of Danny’s hand and put it on the table in front of here. He let himself have a moment to take in the heat of the room, and the number of people that seemed to be milling around.

“Claude!” Danny’s head whipped around as he watched a brunette pull Claude into a sloppy half-hug, thrusting a cup into his hand. “Thought you’d never make it!” The cup’s contents sloshed dangerously as he pulled away smiling.

“You know I’m always good.” He sniffed the cup before pulling it away from his face. “Raff what the hell is in this?” The other guy, Raff, Danny supposed, smiled lopsidedly and shrugged.

“Ovi was in charge of the punch tonight, so I wouldn’t recommend more than one cup.”

“Shit Ovi’s here? I didn’t know that asshole was in town.” Claude brought the cup up to his mouth, grimacing as he took a mouthful.

“Yeah, something about Geno coming too,” he waved his arm about in an odd way, gesturing to the party.

“Which means fucking Crosby’s here too.” Danny watched as Claude tipped the cup against his mouth, taking several large mouthfuls.

“Hey Raff come here!” An unidentifiable voice floated in from the living, and Raff tipped his head before making his way over.   

 

“Here,” Claude thrusted the cup into Danny’s hand. Danny looked down at its murky contents and swirled it slightly before looking back up at Claude. “Drink it,” he said patiently, waiting for Danny. Danny gingerly brought it up to his mouth, and took a small sip, choking on it.

“Holy shit,” he sputtered, shoving the cup back at Claude. “I can’t drink that,” he was still coughing as Claude laughed.

“I don’t blame you, Ovi’s a fucking animal. Here,” he reached out and grabbed Danny’s wrist, leading him further into the kitchen. Claude narrowly avoided walking into a couple entangled together, and eventually made it to the counter.

“Oh my god, look at all those bottles!” Danny stared at the rows of bottles littering the granite countertop, along with various abandoned cups, shot glasses, and half-chewed limes.

“Shots?” Claude had let go of his wrist, and was holding up a bottle of vodka, mischievous look on his face. Danny couldn’t help but grin back, nodding. He watched as Claude grabbed two shot glasses from the counter, one etched with the NYU logo on it and the other a hockey stick with the words “bringing our eh game” painted on the front. “Do you have a preference?” Now scanning the bottles of various types of alcohol, Claude picked up a different bottle of vodka, this one strawberry flavored, proffering it to Danny for approval.

“Sounds good to me.” Claude nodded and filled the shot glasses, some of the alcohol spilling over the top. He picked one up and handed it to Danny, mouthing a cheers as they both tipped the contents into their mouth. Coughing, Danny placed his shot glass back onto the counter. He waited for Claude to do the same before asking, “another one?” Getting a nod in return, Danny grabbed the bottle and filled them again. In a similar fashion, they continued until the half-full bottle was almost completely empty.

Danny could feel his head begin to swim, a warmth spreading all over his body, up his arms and down his legs as the room began to slide out of focus. “You okay man?” Claude slid back into focus, a look of concern on his face despite the dragging nature of his words.

“Yeah, just been a while.” He smiled, and followed Claude’s gaze into the living room, the sight of grinding bodies and the loud thrum of bass enveloping his senses. “You wanna dance?” The grin that split Claude’s face was answer enough, and Danny began to worm his way through the crowd that had gathered in the kitchen. Danny turned around, to make sure Claude was still with him, but ended up finding another, slightly taller, ginger man looking at him instead. “Um, can I help you?”

The other man’s smile was a little droopy, but he tossed his arm around Danny’s shoulders and pulled him into an awkward embrace. “You must be Danny! The lawyer from the coffee shop!” Danny couldn’t help but notice the strong aroma of beer that poured from his mouth as thick as his accent as he spoke.

“Uh, yeah, and you are?” Danny tried to pull away, but the other man tugged him in tighter, his other hand patting his hair.

“You do have very soft hair.” Danny shrunk down a little as the taller man nuzzled his face into Danny’s hair.

“Jesus Jake,” Danny was saved as Claude pulled the taller man, Jake, off of him. It dawned on him, a little slower than it should have, that this must be Claude’s roommate.

“You were right, G, he does have very soft hair.” Claude sputtered, and even in the dim light Danny could make out the red tinge to his face. “Ah, yes, sorry, I’m Jake.” He extended a hand in Danny’s direction, who, warily, shook it.

“I think you already know my name,” he laughed as Jake giggled to himself, much to Claude’s apparent chagrin.

“Happy to meet you, you know, G talks about-” Claude sprang up, smacking a hand over Jake’s mouth and effectively cutting him off mid sentence.

“Yes, very happy, okay Jake, see you later,” Claude’s eyes were wide as he grabbed Danny’s arm and yanked him deeper into the crowd, towards the back of the room. In the few minutes he had spent with Jake, the room seemed to fill to bursting. Danny leaned in closer to Claude as he spoke.

“Where the hell did all these people come from?” Claude shook his head, shrugging his shoulders.

“I don’t know,” Claude was leaning in so close Danny could feel the heat radiating off his body. “There’s more room downstairs though, and music too,” Claude pulled away and cocked his head towards the staircase in the corner of the room.

“Sure,” he nodded as well, and Claude lead the way, smiling and nodding at people he knew. He grabbed Danny, pulling him in close as they reached the top of the stairs.

“Be careful, they’re old and wooden, and god knows how many people have spilled their drinks on it already tonight.” Danny nodded, and let Claude go down first. After the first two steps, he could feel the air temperature drop. Gripping the flimsy railing for dear life, he navigated the awkward stairs down to the floor. Claude had been right, there were fewer people down here, but enough that it was still difficult to move comfortably considering the amount of space the pong table took up. The music, however, was louder. Slipping past bodies Danny could have sworn he’d seen somewhere on the street, the two made their way to the further end of the room, the cool air radiating off of the stone walls.

Claude raised a finger and disappeared quickly. Feeling his self-consciousness melt away under the alcohol, he gradually felt the bass of the song, and began dancing along, smiling and laughing with the people around him. A few minutes, or hours, Danny had no sense of time left in him, Claude reappeared with two cups full of beer, passing one to Danny. He smiled around the brim of it, watching Claude’s throat work as he swallowed his down. Reaching his hand out, he pulled Claude in closer towards him, still moving to the beat of the song, even though it had changed many times over. Even in the almost non-existent lighting, Danny could see Claude’s smile as he wrapped himself around Danny’s back, one arm around his waist and the other holding his cup over his head. The heat poured off of him as he slid his arm down Danny’s waist and thigh before letting it trail back up, settling on his hip. Smiling, Danny leaned into him and continued to dance, moving his hips in time to the music.

They stayed together like that, grinding into each other, as Danny drained the rest of his beer. He bent down to place the empty cup on the floor and grinned to himself as Claude let his hand brush across his stomach to grip his other hip, holding him down. Still moving against Claude, Danny slowly turned around and stood back up, pressed against Claude and held in place by Claude’s arm, now around Danny’s back. Hands now free, Danny let them drape around Claude’s neck, pulling him down closer to his own level. Danny felt Claude drop his cup, not yet empty as some of the liquid splashed on his jeans, and let his other hand fall to Danny’s waist. The baseline in the music picked up, and Danny continued to work his body across Claude’s, feeling both his own and Claude’s excitement manifest physically.

Danny was completely lost in the music and the feeling of Claude’s hands roaming his hips and back, occasionally dipping to squeeze his ass through his back pockets. He ran his own hands through Claude’s hair and down his neck and jawline, letting them drop to his chest. Breaking the spell, Claude brought one hand up Danny’s chest, dragging it loosely over his neck and used it to tip Danny’s head back before leaning in to kiss him deeply. Slightly sloppily and tasting of alcohol Danny kissed back, deepening it. He could feel Claude smile against his lips, letting the hand under his chin brush through his hand and rest on the back of his neck. Tugging Claude closer, Danny licked at his lower lip until Claude parted them, letting Danny in. Without realizing it, Claude took a step back and set Danny off balance, falling into his arms. Pulling away from the kiss suddenly, he stumbled in an attempt to catch Danny, and tripped back into someone behind him, who toppled into the pong table. Danny, now barely caught in Claude’s arms, watched as the cups scattered across the surface and spilled their contents all over several people.

“Shit,” Claude laughed as he whispered, setting Danny back on his feet and shrugging when the guy stood back up. His face contorted, and he took as step toward Claude who quickly shoved Danny towards the stairs, and they both made a quick retreat. They made it upstairs, to a much less crowded room than before, and doubled over in laughter.

“Oh my god, we made such a mess!” Danny reached out for Claude’s arm to steady himself as he took a deep breath in.

“We should, we should probably go,” Claude replied through broken bursts of laughter.

“I don’t know where we are, and I don’t even know how to begin to get home,” Danny looked at Claude with mock seriousness before bursting into laughter. Claude followed suit, and started laughing all over again.

“I’m not going to lie to you, at this point I’m not even sure how to get home.” Danny was now bent over again, holding his stomach as he laughed. “Wait, wait, I’ll go find Jake,” Claude looked around quickly before patting his pockets down and pulling out his phone. He picked it up to his ear and covered the speaker as he talked into it. “Don’t worry, he’ll come find us.”

“Does he mind?” Danny was wiping the tears off of his face as Claude stumbled back into him, leaning down to press their mouths together again. This time it was Claude who nipped at Danny’s lower lip, and his jawline, pressing open mouthed kisses down his neck and stopping at the juncture of his shoulder to bite down, sending fresh waves of heat through his body.

“Are you two ready to go, or am I interrupting something?” Claude pulled off of Danny’s neck with a wet pop as Jake grabbed his shoulder, smiling but slightly more composed than the two of them.

“No, no, I mean,” Claude ran a hand through his hair, which was now a mess despite the gel, “yeah, but like, no.” Danny took one look at him and burst into laughter, still able to feel the phantom presence of Claude’s teeth on his neck.

“That was very good speaking, I’m proud.” Jake let Claude collect himself before asking again.

“Yes, right?” Claude looked to Danny, who nodded. “Ready to go home!” He threw his fist in the air, narrowly avoiding Jake’s face.

“Oh lord I don’t think I can deal with the two of you on the subway.” Jake shook his head, and ushered them out of the front door, making sure to let Raffl know they were leaving.

They boarded the train with much apparent effort, as Danny was unable to get his pass out of his pocket without help. It was once they were seated, and not the most obviously intoxicated ones onboard, that Claude leaned over to Danny. “Where do you live?” Danny stared blankly back at him, trying to get his slow brain to work a little bit faster. Claude took the pause, though, and spoke again. “I mean, unless you wanted to come home with me,” he grinned toothily at Danny before running a hand up his thigh. Danny nodded and placed his hand over top of Claude’s guiding it up higher.

“Jesus, absolutely not on the train!” Jake’s voice was a pointed whisper as he smacked Claude’s hand off of Danny.

“Jake,” Claude leaned closer to the other ginger, “stop cockblocking me.” He couldn’t keep his head up straight, but his eyes had a serious glint to them.

“I am not cockblocking you, I am just trying to help you avoid getting fined for public indecency.” Claude took a moment to think this over, and nodded, returning his attention to Danny.

“Good,” he let his hand inch closer to Danny’s, and intertwined their fingers for the duration of the ride.

Once they made it to their stop, Jake herded them off the train and up the stairs, making the short walk to their apartment. He stopped and turned to Claude, who had sobered up a little during the ride. “I am going to go inside, grab some food, and head to my room. I want you to give me five minutes to do this and put headphones in before you come up, okay?” Claude nodded, and reached out for Danny as Jake let himself into the building. They passed the short amount of time by picking up where they left off, Danny running his hands up and down Claude’s chest as he licked along his jawline. Claude broke away, taking his key out and opening the door.

They stumbled into the apartment as Claude had pressed Danny up against the door while he tried to unlock it. Laughing, he tugged Danny into his room and shut the door, locking it behind them. Danny noted as much as he could in the room, from the desk with books stacked on it to the posters of various hockey players and team logos, and the pile of clothes tucked in the corner. “Hey,” Claude regathered Danny’s attention, cupping his face in his hands. He kissed him deeply, walking him backwards towards the bed. He tugged on the bottom of Danny’s shirt, until he lifted his arms to take it off, pausing until Claude did the same. Danny watched as Claude took in his body as he did the same, marveling at the tight muscles coiled just beneath the surface of his skin.

 

“Hey,” Danny replied, a little breathy. Claude laughed and gently guided Danny towards the bed until he was sitting on the foot of it.

“Hey,” Claude leaned in to press a kiss to his lips, and Danny moved backwards on the bed to give Claude room to join him. Danny closed his eyes as Claude deepened the kiss, his hands moving down Danny’s bare skin to the top of his jeans. Claude hesitated for a moment before Danny laid down onto his back, unbuttoning them and sliding them off. He had the breath knocked out of him as Claude leaned down to suck at a patch of skin just under his ear. Moaning slightly, he let his hands trace the bare skin of Claude’s back, fall down against his hips, and dip beneath the waistband of his jeans. Claude took a moment to drag his teeth across his neck before reaching down to shrug his jeans off, letting them drop off of the bed. Danny took the opportunity to climb further up the bed, his head now resting on the pillows. Claude followed suit, leaving a trail of kisses and bites down Danny’s chest and stomach, running his hand up the insides of his thighs.

“Shit,” Danny hissed out, running his fingers through Claude’s hair and coaxing him down further. Claude looked up through his lashes, mouthing at the outline of Danny’s cock through his underwear. He paused, the band between his teeth, waiting for permission from Danny. “Yes, oh my god yes, please,” The warmth of the alcohol had been washed out by the heat of desire as Claude tugged his boxer briefs off with his teeth, pulling them off with swift hands as he licked a stripe up the underside of Danny’s now free dick. Claude scraped his fingernails along the sensitive skin of Danny’s inner thighs as he took his length into his mouth, bobbing up and down to a slow but steady rhythm. Danny felt the heat pool in his stomach, warm and tight, as Claude let his fingers wander down, brushing against entrance.

“Wait, hold on,” Claude sat back on his heels and Danny whined at the loss of contact. Claude leaned overtop of him, reaching for the nightstand, but Danny reached up to graze his hands across Claude’s body. He jolted, nearly knocking the lamp off the nightstand, but was able to open the drawer and pull out a condom and lube, laying them on the bed next to them. Danny leaned up to kiss him as he opened the lube, pouring some over his fingers. Wrapping one hand around Danny’s neck to lower him back down, he let the other drop back down and work itself inside Danny, slowly opening him up. Danny was sweating and moaning into Claude’s mouth, biting at his lower lip and sucking on it when Claude pulled away again. “Do you want to?” His eyes shifted from Danny’s to the condom on the bed, and Danny nodded.

“Please, yes,” he panted against Claude’s skin as he slid the condom on, positioning himself between Danny’s legs. Sliding in slowly, he took one of Danny’s legs and wrapped it around his waist. He waited until Danny had adjusted himself, and was all but pushing himself down onto Claude’s cock before he pulled out and pushed in again, setting a slow pace. He looked down at Danny, who was writhing on the bed, eyes all but slammed shut and hand wrapped around his dick. Claude reached down, replacing Danny’s hand with his own, and matched the pace of his thrusts. Danny’s eyes opened as he tried to get Claude’s attention, but before he knew it he was spilling over Claude’s hand as the warmth of his orgasm spread throughout his body. Claude followed seconds after, gripping onto Danny’s hand as his own orgasm hit him hard and fast. Carefully, Claude disentangled himself and pulled out, tying the condom off and tossing it into the trashcan. He got up from the bed, and disappeared into the bathroom, reappearing a moment later with warm washcloth.

“I got you,” he swiped the washcloth over Danny’s stomach, cleaning him up before wiping the lube from off of him. Claude tossed the washcloth into the laundry pile in the corner before grabbing the covers from under Danny, and tugging them over the both of them. “You okay?”

“Yeah, really good,” Danny’s voice sounded far away, but he rolled over and pressed a kiss to Claude’s lips. Claude returned it for a few minutes before pulling away and tossing an arm over Danny, pulling him in close before drifting off to sleep.

 **  
**  


_Saturday_

Claude’s head throbbed when he tried to open his eyes, so he slammed them shut again. Groaning, he rolled over only to have the rest of the world follow suit, and continue to spin around him. He reached out to steady himself, and to stop the world from spinning so much, only to knock his hand into a body on the bed next to him. Recoiling with force, he caused the world to lurch around him again. Trying to think, he cracked an eye open to peek at the sleeping form next to him. He sighed in relief as last night came rushing back to him, and he  recognized the mess of dark brown hair  in front of him. Danny took a deep breath and rolled over, opening his eyes slightly to look back at Claude. “Good morning.”

“It really is,” Claude picked up his arm and let it trace a lock of hair framing Danny’s face, tucking it behind his ear and leaning in to kiss him. Danny kissed him back, but pulled away instead of deepening it. Claude could feel his face fall in spite of himself, and Danny quickly laughed and shook his head.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that, uh, we both taste like something died in our mouths last night.” Claude giggled at that, even though it sent a new wave of pain through his head.

“It feels like I died last night.” This time Danny’s face faltered.

“Do you, regret it?” He looked down at the sheets as he spoke, running a hand over the soft fabric.

“No, oh my god, I didn’t mean it like that.” Claude leaned in for another kiss, this one closed-mouthed. “I just can’t drink like that anymore, I must be getting old like you.” He winked at Danny.

“Old like me huh?” He shook his head, rolling his eyes. “Well, this old man needs some water, a few painkillers, and maybe a cup of coffee,” eyes crinkling as he smiled.

“Yeah, well, I think I know a place,” Claude smiled as he sat up gingerly, and pulled Danny in closer, rolling him over and kissing him.

 ****  
  



End file.
